thanksgiving was an amazing success.
I was stressing a bit. The number seemed to be growing more and more and I was doing the whole “will there be enough food and space??” worry. Especially when the day was rainy and windy and it looked like we wouldn’t be able to spread about outside.
My neighbours Annie and Nicole came over beforehand just to check I was ok and see if I needed anything, (which I did) It was so great to have their support! It felt like we were all doing it together, not just me trying to pull of some huge feat on my own.
The weather improved remarkably and by the time people started to arrive, kids were jumping in the pool and 20 adults plus kids hardly felt like a crowd at all! Everyone was all eager to hear the The thanksgiving story when it came time to eat, people were thrilled with the food. Again, it was so great that everyone contributed. I gave everyone an “american” recipe to make and bring so we had thanksgiving carrots, green bean casserole, a squash casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and Turkey! There was plenty to go around but hardly any left in the end. I must admit for the first time it really “felt” like Thanksgiving.
I had been a little upset earlier in the day thinking about how really, this day only means something special to me, and Jon really doesn’t get it, and if we end up living in the UK, my kids won’t really “get it” either. But at the end of the night Jon came to me and said “thanks for doing this, it was really special” I realized that it’s up to me to make these memories and make these holiday special.
I dissapeared just after supper to try and get iona down and she was exhausted and when I came back (from my failed attempt) I discovered all the dishes had been done! So again, it just felt like I was celebrating with family, and it was so special. What I found so fun was that everyone wanted the recipes and people were chatting and talking about celebrating it next year and making it their own tradition! So thankyou to everyone who came and who lended their enthusiasm! I feel empowered to create warm fuzzies!
I was stressing a bit. The number seemed to be growing more and more and I was doing the whole “will there be enough food and space??” worry. Especially when the day was rainy and windy and it looked like we wouldn’t be able to spread about outside.
My neighbours Annie and Nicole came over beforehand just to check I was ok and see if I needed anything, (which I did) It was so great to have their support! It felt like we were all doing it together, not just me trying to pull of some huge feat on my own.
The weather improved remarkably and by the time people started to arrive, kids were jumping in the pool and 20 adults plus kids hardly felt like a crowd at all! Everyone was all eager to hear the The thanksgiving story when it came time to eat, people were thrilled with the food. Again, it was so great that everyone contributed. I gave everyone an “american” recipe to make and bring so we had thanksgiving carrots, green bean casserole, a squash casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and Turkey! There was plenty to go around but hardly any left in the end. I must admit for the first time it really “felt” like Thanksgiving.
I had been a little upset earlier in the day thinking about how really, this day only means something special to me, and Jon really doesn’t get it, and if we end up living in the UK, my kids won’t really “get it” either. But at the end of the night Jon came to me and said “thanks for doing this, it was really special” I realized that it’s up to me to make these memories and make these holiday special.
I dissapeared just after supper to try and get iona down and she was exhausted and when I came back (from my failed attempt) I discovered all the dishes had been done! So again, it just felt like I was celebrating with family, and it was so special. What I found so fun was that everyone wanted the recipes and people were chatting and talking about celebrating it next year and making it their own tradition! So thankyou to everyone who came and who lended their enthusiasm! I feel empowered to create warm fuzzies!
Things I learned:
-Don’t stress about numbers. The more the merrier…really, in the end, i probably could have extended the invitation out a bit more or at least told people to stop by later for coffee and pumpkin pie!
-Don’t feel you have to put your child to bed on time, if they are happy, it’s one of the times when you
can let them stay up and it’s not the end of the world.
